Eighth-grade students Wysper Wiseman and Greyson Berena model the T-shirts given to Brookfield Middle School students as part of the Beat the State initiative.
Over the years, Brookfield school officials have tried making a big thing out of the state tests. Other years, they have downplayed them. Officials want students to focus on the tests and want to do well, but without putting undue stress on them, and finding that balance has been hard to ascertain, said Supt. Toby Gibson.
“We’ve tried every angle,” said the former elementary and middle school principal. “The kids work hard, the staff works hard, day in and day out, and it doesn’t translate” into the test scores.
Middle school Principal Craig Boles is trying a new approach that Gibson wholeheartedly approves.
“We’re gonna have a little competition called ‘Beat the State,’” Boles told the school board Dec. 18.
Boles has projections for how his students in grades five through eight should score on the April state tests based on their past scores. Grades five and eight are tested in math, science and English, while grades six and seven are tested in math and English.
Individuals who beat their projections will not have to attend the last day of school, Boles said. Individual grades and the entire building can earn some sort of in-school celebration that he promised will be “chaos.”
Boles also is suggesting how students can Beat the State: come to school every day; set a daily routine; actively listen in class and ask questions; do your best every time; and learn to persevere, or not give up, when something is hard.
“Every little bit we can to get that growth and achievement levels going where we want them, we’re gonna attempt to do here with this,” Boles said.
Boles introduced the initiative to students at an assembly Jan. 29. He said that while it seems unfair to be judged based on one test taken on one day, everyone is judged at some point in their lives. The state test is one way the state judges students, teachers, administrators and school districts, he said.
Boles said he knows some students underperform on the tests on purpose, but challenged the students to do the work asked of them in class so they can learn what is needed by the time the test comes around. In trying to relate to the students, Boles asked if they were good at their favorite video games right away or had to work at them.
“If you want to get good at something you have to fail,” he said.
Boles also said the projections schoolwide are modest and attainable.
“We will beat the state,” he said. “I know we can do this.”
Gibson said he supports the ‘Beat the State’ initiative because it uses competition as a potential motivator.
“One thing you do with our kids, you make something a competition and it’s go time,” Gibson said. “It does not matter what it is, they will compete because they want to win. That’s an angle we have never tried, to my knowledge, towards the state test, so, why not? If it gets our kids a little bit more focused, if that potential party at the end of the year is what motivates them to try a little harder on the test, then, let’s do it.”
School board member Jerry Necastro said parents will need to buy into the initiative to make it successful, and Boles agreed. He said the school will be reaching out to parents through the one-call system, social media and the Class Dojo app.
